The Lede Blog: Bahrain Welcomes European Delegation, Not Delegates' Calls to Free Dissidents

Last Updated, Saturday, 10:34 a.m. As The Lede reported on Wednesday, a delegation from the European Parliament visited Bahrain this week to discuss human rights, just as the kingdom jailed a rights advocate for documenting a protest on Twitter.Sic(k). Police Chief tells us number of #Bahrain protesters killed compares favourably to Tianamen Square, Egypt soccer & Los Angeles riots.— Richard Howitt...

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Vatican says pope beats Justin Bieber on re-tweets

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Benedict, white-haired, 85, and a neophyte to social media site Twitter, has beaten out 18-year old heartthrob Justin Bieber to set a percentage record for re-tweeting by his followers, the Vatican said on Thursday.The Vatican newspaper said that as of noon Italian time on Thursday the pope had 2.1 million followers on Twitter, eight days after his first tweet was sent.While...

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Prince William & Kate to Spend Christmas in Bucklebury with Her Family

By Simon Perry 12/22/2012 at 10:30 AM EST The Duchess and Duke of Cambridge REX USA After suffering from extreme morning sickness in the first weeks of her pregnancy, Kate will spend Christmas in the comfort of her family, a St. James Palace spokesman told PEOPLE on Saturday.In a major break...

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Predicting who's at risk for violence isn't easy

CHICAGO (AP) — It happened after Columbine, Virginia Tech, Aurora, Colo., and now Sandy Hook: People figure there surely were signs of impending violence. But experts say predicting who will be the next mass shooter is virtually impossible — partly because as commonplace as these calamities seem, they are relatively rare crimes.Still, a combination of risk factors in troubled kids or adults including...

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Wall Street Week Ahead: A lump of coal for "Fiscal Cliff-mas"

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street traders are going to have to pack their tablets and work computers in their holiday luggage after all. A traditionally quiet week could become hellish for traders as politicians in Washington are likely to fall short of an agreement to deal with $600 billion in tax hikes and spending cuts due to kick in early next year. Many economists forecast that this...

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Putin Evasive on Banning Adoptions by Americans

James Hill for The New York TimesJournalists attended a news conference held by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in Moscow on Thursday. MOSCOW — He seemed to wince a bit as he sauntered on stage — a twinge no doubt from a lingering back injury — but as he took his seat before scores of cameras in a hall packed with more than 1,000 journalists on Thursday, President Vladimir V. Putin was clearly...

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Investors shed shares of Blackberry maker

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Blackberry maker Research in Motion slumped more than 16 percent Friday with future revenue coming into question and a declining number of subscribers.RIM’s stock jumped initially Thursday when the Canadian company released better-than-expected third-quarter results and a stronger cash position.Shares reversed course during a conference call later, when executives said that...

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Nicole Richie: Motherhood Hasn't Affected My Style

Stylewatch Style News Now 12/21/2012 at 09:00 AM ET Don Arnold/WireImageMotherhood has changed Nicole Richie in many ways, but the star says she still has full ownership over her sense of style.Unlike Kristin Cavallari and Christina Applegate, who say they’ve altered their way of dress since becoming...

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AP IMPACT: Big Pharma cashes in on HGH abuse

A federal crackdown on illicit foreign supplies of human growth hormone has failed to stop rampant misuse, and instead has driven record sales of the drug by some of the world's biggest pharmaceutical companies, an Associated Press investigation shows.The crackdown, which began in 2006, reduced the illegal flow of unregulated supplies from China, India and Mexico.But since then, Big Pharma has been...

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Wall Street drops 1 percent, fiscal deal unlikely before 2013

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks sank more than 1 percent on Friday after a Republican proposal for averting the "fiscal cliff" failed to pass, diminishing hopes a deal would be reached soon in Washington. Trading is expected to be volatile as investors view a fiscal agreement between the White House and Republicans before the year-end as increasingly unlikely. With volume thin ahead of the...

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French Court Refuses to Dismiss Strauss-Kahn Sex Investigation

PARIS — A French appeals court on Wednesday rejected a demand from Dominique Strauss-Kahn to dismiss an investigation of him in connection with a ring that recruited prostitutes for sex parties from Paris to Washington. His appeal was an effort to end the last of the legal problems that forced him to resign as head managing director of the International Monetary Fund and ruined his ambition...

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Facebook predicted to overtake Google in mobile display ad revenue this year

Shares of Facebook (FB) have begun to rebound since the company’s disastrous initial public offering this past May. After opening at $ 38 per share the company’s stock plummeted into the mid-20s over the summer months and eventually fell to a low of $ 17.55 in early September. Since then, however, Facebook shares have begun to bounce back after the company posted better-than-expected results...

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Simon Cowell Calls Sandy Hook Tribute the Hardest Thing He's Done on TV

By Tim Nudd 12/20/2012 at 10:05 AM EST Simon Cowell introducing the Sandy Hook Tribute It takes a lot to bring out Simon Cowell's softer side.But the normally acerbic X Factor judge choked up Wednesday night as he introduced the show's emotional tribute to the Sandy Hook shooting victims...

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AP IMPACT: Steroids loom in major-college football

WASHINGTON (AP) — With steroids easy to buy, testing weak and punishments inconsistent, college football players are packing on significant weight — 30 pounds or more in a single year, sometimes — without drawing much attention from their schools or the NCAA in a sport that earns tens of billions of dollars for teams.Rules vary so widely that, on any given game day, a team with a strict no-steroid...

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Wall Street ticks lower on "fiscal cliff" stalemate

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged slightly lower on Thursday as investors fretted that a deal on the U.S. budget wouldn't come as soon as they had hoped after President Barack Obama threatened to veto a controversial Republican plan. The market barely reacted to a round of strong data, including on gross domestic product growth and housing, suggesting talks to avert the "fiscal cliff,"...

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